Chaparral Cars

Chaparral Cars was a pioneering American automobile racing team and race car developer which engineered, built and raced cars from 1963 through 1970. Named after a fast-running ground cuckoo that is commonly known as a chaparral or a roadrunner, it was founded in 1962 by American Formula One racer Hap Sharp and fellow American Jim Hall, a Texas oil magnate.

Background

Troutman and Barnes were builders of the original Chaparral race cars (later referred to as Chaparral 1). Jim Hall purchased two Chaparral 1s to race. When Hall and Sharp began building their own cars, they asked Troutman and Barnes if they could continue to use the Chaparral name. That is why the Hall/Sharp cars are all named Chaparral 2s (models 2A through 2J for sports cars/CanAm cars, and the 2K which was the 1979–1982 Indycar). Despite winning the Indianapolis 500 in 1980, they left motor racing in 1982. Chaparral cars also featured in the SCCA/CASC Can-Am series and Endurance racing.

Jim Hall and Chaparral was a leader in the innovation and design of spoilers, wings, and ground effects. A high point was the 1966 2E Can-Am car. The 2J CanAm "sucker car" was the first "ground-effects" car.